o'clock in the afternoon, judging from the
position of the sun, when I awoke to find Ama crouching over the fire,
busily preparing another meal which--even as I rose and stretched myself
luxuriously, feeling immeasurably refreshed and invigorated by my long
sleep--she pronounced ready. As we sat down to partake, of it together,
Ama informed me that one of her father's largest canoes, manned by forty
paddlers, and commanded by a chief whom she had recognised, had passed
slowly down the river about an hour after I had composed myself to rest,
the chief in charge intently scrutinising both banks, as they went,
evidently in search of some indication of our presence, and had finally
passed out of sight to the southward; after which Ama had descended and
taken a few hours' rest. She further stated that, upon awaking, she had
again gone aloft to take another long and careful look round, but had
seen nothing more of our pursuers, and was therefore inclined to believe
that we were now reasonably safe, provided, of course, that we did all
our travelling at night, kept a sharp look-out, and were careful not to
allow ourselves to be fallen in with by other users of the river.

The supply of food which Ama had provided for our afternoon meal was so
bountiful that, when we had finished, enough remained to furnish us with
a good substantial meal about the middle of the night. Our wants for
the next few hours were consequently supplied, we had therefore no need
to do anything further than just to wait for nightfall and then resume
our voyage; which we did, passing the intervening time in chatting
together and discussing the various precautions which we must take in
order to elude our pursuers, who, by the way, were now several miles
ahead of us. We remained where we were until close upon sunset, when I
again climbed our look-out tree and carefully scanned the whole surface
of the river, as far as the eye could reach. There was nothing of an
alarming character in sight, and therefore, as soon as I had descended
to the ground, we both set out for the spot where we had hidden our
canoe, launched her, and made our way out through the labyrinth of
mangrove roots to the margin of the river, where we lay _perdu_ until
the darkness had completely fallen, when we boldly pushed off into the
strength of the current, and steadily pursued our way. I soon found
that travelling down-stream, with the current in our favour, was a very
different ma